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Wednesday May 06, 2009
Posted by Ira Sharkansky
The Economist's description of Gaza three months after Israel's invasion makes for difficult reading. The slogans of "collective punishment" and the "world's largest prison" seem accurate.
Numerous families are living rough due to their homes being destroyed. Diets are limited due to continued blockades of all but essential foods and medicines. The Israeli press reported recently that pumpkins were not allowed in because they were not on the list of essential foods. The Economist is not widely recognized as a Zionist newspaper, but this article is fair in putting most of the onus on Hamas. Its inflexible ideology brought the destruction, and has provided little opportunity for finding a way out of the blockade. An inability to reach an accord to produce a unified Palestinian leadership not in the hands of those defined as terrorists by numerous governments has created a situation where most of the aid promised has not been delivered. There has been no movement towards freeing captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, if he is still alive, or even allowing contact with international humanitarian organizations for close to three years. The Economist quotes Gazans who curse Hamas for their fate while sitting amidst the rubble, and complaining about overcrowded tents. The article avoids suggesting that Gaza is the future of Islamic extremism, but it might be worth thinking in that direction. Other trouble spots are not much better. Afghanistan may support continued war with its poppies, but not an attractive lifestyle for the population. Likewise areas of Pakistan occupied by the Taliban, and the villages of Somalia that send little boats to capture big ships.
Iran is much less than a paradise despite oil revenues that support angry Muslims in several places, moving to the edge of nuclear power as well as long- and medium-range missiles. There is double-digit unemployment and inflation, and insufficient refining capacity to produce enough gasoline for its own consumption. Those who accept the Bush and Obama spins may view Iraq as a coalition success and the emergence--almost--of a stable indigenous government. Skeptics cite more than 1,000 civilian deaths due mostly to sectarian violence so far in 2009, and perhaps 100,000 civilian deaths since 2003. Judgments about Lebanon depend on what you read. Hizbullah and Iranian sources are upbeat. A USAID website carries pictures of a bridge that Americans are rebuilding. Others describe recovery from 2006 as far from complete. They emphasize the lack of stability in a country always on the verge of ethnic conflict and religious euphoria, and tied in one way or another to Iran or Syria, neither of which are political or economic garden spots. North Korea is not a Muslim country, but provides a model along with a number Muslim countries for the consequences of being enthusiastic outliers. With great efforts at self-justification based on ideology and/or theology, and outsized investments in weapons of aggression, these countries are not ideal for the rest of us, but they have been manageable. The rogues are contained, at an expense far less than total war, and it is their own residents who suffer the most from fanaticism. For those of us with modest aspirations and little expectation of heaven on earth, the glass is half full.
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Window on Israel
Hebrew University Political Science professor evaluates the latest happenings in Israel.
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Recent Comments
Chris USA: If the UN is successful with the Goldstone report the muslims nations will begin erroding Israeli sovereignty by compromising the IDF command structure and nibbling away at Israel's assumed nuclear repertoire until eventually this nation becomes incapable of defending itself. Through a process of economic and financial leveraging eventually its jewish character will be assimulated into Islam as has happened some many times throughout the years to various individuals. How long will people like you be able to stick your head in the ground and pretend time is on your side? When you speak arabic?
Shahab Mohd Altaf INDIA: Israel has military power, resilience, but what about providence?Read the history of Pharoah and Moses,
the parting of the Red Sea ? Self-confidence is good, but Hubris and vanity are worse than death by a thousand cuts.No army can stop the force of an Idea whose time has come.Palestinian State is long overdue and Israel needs to accept reality.Power has its limits, reason has its limits but Fear GOD as He has no limits.Violence by Hamas is condemnable but the message of the Goldstone report speaks volumes of the situation in Jerusalem, Gaza, West bank and Israel itself.Fear GOD !.
Vladimir, USA: You want a suggestion? It is more than obvious: implement the decision of the League of Nations, create Jewish National Home in Mandatory Palestine. This is the international law that is still not implemented. Stop using political fraud term "palestinians", there are none. Treat the issue as it should be: Jewish vs. Arab conflict, only. Borders must be changed with respect to this conflict.
All western Mandatory Palestine must be return to Jewish sovereignty, Arabs must be mandatory resettled to eastern part with compensations and new constructions there. Abdullah to Damascus, Asad out.
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